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TRP: Gwydion, Jonn, and Morgan (Pearl Wand)
Izzy: at 5:57 PM Morningstar Keep, Day 167. Late at night. Alone in his tower, Gwydion became aware of an odd sound -- a lack of any sound, in fact, followed by the sudden resurgence of it. As quiet as the castle was, it was startling. It had come from behind him. Mink: at 6:01 PM Pages flipped quietly, but Gwydion wasn't reading them. Not really. He was thinking about how to gather the information he needed, and how to gather it quickly. He was thumbing a page to turn it when the silence faltered, making him stiffen. He closed the book before he turned in the chair. Izzy: at 6:05 PM The thief with the horned mask -- Asya -- stood in the middle of the room. She raised a hand at him, then slowly, purposefully fingerspelled W Y N in a rudimentary fashion. She beckoned him over.(edited) Mink: at 6:11 PM It was that thief that was always around Jonm, and that was a relief in its own way. He arched an eyebrow at the spelling, but he stood up and pushed his chair in as he asked, "Can I get dressed first?" Izzy: at 6:13 PM She seemed to appraise him for a second, then shrugged, crossed her arms, and took a couple steps back. Hesitantly, she turned around to give him privacy. Mink: at 6:17 PM Gwydion was quick as he dressed himself. The last thing he wanted was to talk to Wyn looking disheveled and ready for sleep. He grabbed his staff once he was done before walking to Asya. "Ready when you are," he said with a smile. Izzy: at 6:33 PM Asya held out her hand. After he took it, she held up three fingers on the other hand and slowly counted down. When she reached one, they vanished. They reappeared, soundlessly, in the castle dungeon, next to the teleportation circle. A young Calish woman wearing a red scarf waited for them, straightening when they arrived. Asya broke away from Gwydion to join her. She raised a hand, quickly and quietly saying, "My name's Shallah. I'm friends with Jonn. You're not in any danger." She tilted her chin and pulled a piece of red chalk out of her pocket, moving to the circle to begin inscribing runes. "She's Asya, if you don't know. She doesn't talk." Glancing at him, she added, "Hope you're serious about wanting to join up." Mink: at 6:44 PM It was the second time he had teleported and it was the second time he thought he didn't want to do that again. It didn't look that thought was going to come true as Shallah pulled out a piece of chalk and began to write around the circle. "I wouldn't have sent the note if I wasn't," he answered, another smile flickering over his lips. "Where are we heading?" It didn't matter, he supposed. They could take him anywhere. It just gave the barest hint of comfort and control to be told a name.(edited) Izzy: at 7:02 PM She kept scratching out the circle, leaving one line undrawn to look up at him again. "Guess you'll find out." Shallah finished the spell, and stood as the portal opened. She glanced Asya's way and stepped into it, and Asya shoved Gwydion through behind her. They came out in a great hall -- the walls lined with stone columns spaced out to allow for little passages and alcoves between them, the high ceiling lit by floating magelights. Shady characters lingered along the sides of the hall, around the columns, all wearing red in some form or another -- cloaks, scarves, sashes, belts, masks, caps, coats, epaulettes, armor, staves. Shallah joined them, and someone collided with Gwydion's other side: Jonn, hugging him hurriedly and grinning at him, bright-eyed. Finch stood behind him, arms crossed and scowling, not wearing red at all. A long table sat at the far end of the hall, some fifty feet away, and Morgan Wyn sat behind it with her boots propped up, feeding shreds of meat to her little red pseudodragon. "Hey, Gwydion," she called, without looking up at him. "How's your pops?" Mink: at 7:11 PM "I guess so." Before he could shoot Asya a cool look at being shoved, the dungeon vanished and was replaced by a hall lined with a variety of people. They all wore something red, members of the Skyport Thieves or the larger group. If he was honest, it was intimidating. He squeezed his staff, just managing to keep himself from twisting it. He was about to say something when someone wrapped around him, making himself stumble a little. He glanced down, jaw tense and the spell at the tip of his fingers before he saw Jonn. He loosened his grip and smiled, but he gave Finch a wink. At least there were two people there he knew even if one would have happily done away with him . Gwydion looked to Wyn when she called his name. "The same as ever," he answered, tone lightly clipped. Her words hinted at her knowing and he didn't like that. Izzy: at 7:16 PM Wyn dropped her boots off the table, and her dragon scampered up her arm to settle across her shoulders as she propped her elbows on the table, and laced her fingers together to rest her chin on them, smiling. "C'mon, then, c'mon. Sit, sit." Jonn put a hand on Gwydion's back and pressed him forward. Mink: at 7:24 PM Gwydion listened to the light push to his back and he walked to where he was indicated to sit. He dropped into the seat, resting back with one hand still firmly holding onto his staff. Shallah said he was safe. He didn't believe her. "I suppose I should thank you for such a late night meeting." Izzy: at 7:31 PM Jonn pulled out the chair next to him and sat half-sideways, partially facing Gwydion, bouncing a leg. Finch sat more heavily on the far side of him. Wyn glanced across the three of them, still smiling, then leaned back in her chair, gingerly, not disturbing the dragon. It regarded him with a bright green eye, slitted lazily. He noticed that it wore a collar -- a dangling ruby on a blue ribbon. "Nah, I should probably apologize for kicking you outta bed. Don't worry, I was up," Wyn said, and winked. "Guess you probably were too, though, with the whole spooky necromancer shtick, huh?" Mink: at 7:37 PM "Ouch. Stereotypes hurt." Gwydion smiled and laughed softly. He tapped his staff with his nails lightly, ignoring the dragon that watched him. They were common, but he never cared for them. "Sometimes we have other things to do at night." Izzy: at 7:40 PM She smirked. "Bet you do." She leaned in again, a little. "Didn't love the note, y'know. Makes it seem like you like doing shit behind your friends' backs, and I value loyalty. But --" she nodded to Jonn and Finch -- "these two vouched for ya. So I sure hope you don't treat them like you treat your other pals." Mink: at 7:47 PM "Now, why would I do that?" Gwydion arched an eyebrow in question. Finch he couldn't care about, but Jonn? Well, Jonn was interesting and - and... ...he pulled his thoughts away. "I don't sneak around behind my friends' backs, I assure you." Izzy: at 7:50 PM "Well, I hope you don't mind me not just taking your word for it," she said, amused. "Had to do a little digging. Find out what makes ya tick. What you want." She paused. "What do you want, Gwydion?" Mink: at 7:52 PM Any trace of a smile vanished. "If you know what 'makes me tick' then you know what I want." Izzy: at 7:56 PM She gave him a lazy grin. "Yeah, y'know. I found this funny wand. White like a pearl, feels like it'll crumble in your hand. My people tell me it can bring back the dead, even the ones who've been rotting for decades. I bet you didn't leave your daddy to rot, though, did you?" Jonn's hand shot out under the table and grabbed Gwydion's. His face was blank, but his free hand was twisting his red sash furiously, where Wyn couldn't see. Mink: at 8:05 PM Someone had been talking. Someone had told. Was it the fucking cleric he had paid to keep an eye on his home in Alabaster? Was it someone else? Who the fuck -- -- Jonn grabbed his hand. He wrapped his own around Jonn's, using him to focus. The wand was more important, that needed to be what he focused on. "I'm sure you already know the answer to that." A cold smiled worked over his face before it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. His nails bit into Jonn's hand as his grip tightened. "I can show him to you if you're that interested." Izzy: at 8:12 PM "Ah, hon, I'm not interested in your dad at all." She leaned back and swung her boots up onto the table again, looking satisfied. "All I'm interested in is making connections. Between people, and the things they want." She held up two fingers on different hands and brought them together as she spoke. "If you can help me get what I want, then you can have the wand." Her eyes flickered over to Jonn, and Jonn's nails dug into Gwydion in turn. "You cause problems for me," she went on, "and you're gonna fuckin' have problems, too." Mink: at 8:19 PM Gwydion never let go of Jonn's hand, holding almost painfully tight. Who had told? He could feel the world threatening to slide away and the pain in his hand from pricking nails was all that made him relax into his chair. "If you're true to your word about the wand, you'll have no issues from me," he said with a tense smile. He could use a wand on his own; it was a better prospect than that book in Tricksy's -- Tricksy, but that was a thought for later. Izzy: at 8:26 PM She ran two fingers across the open palm and outstretched fingers of her other hand -- honest in thieves' cant -- and winked again. "I don't go back on a deal. Now, I'm gonna need to you to do a few jobs for me, before I can help you out. But that's worth Aesar's life, right?" Mink: at 8:34 PM The air in the world seemed to vanish as his father's name left Wyn's lips. He hadn't heard it in many years and had never uttrred it himself. Hearing it now, after the threats from that pretty pink, tattooed tiefling, after being whisked from his room, teleported and dropped into a hall surrounded by people he knew he couldn't trust, made the room seem terribly large and terribly small. "Yes." It was another tense, curt reply. She knew his father's name, knew where he was, and that gave her a power that was frightening because she could take everything away. But only if he disobeyed, if he didn't listen. "Anything you want." Izzy: at 8:44 PM "Good to hear." Wyn looked across the three of them again, grinning. "Listen. I heard about how you and Jonn double-teamed that annoying little knight. Seemed like real good work. Withering people away, and shit." She raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Gotta admit I'm a fan. So I'm gonna need you to do that to, y'know. Just a few more people." She waved a hand carelessly. "My predecessor paired these two up, but that seems like a stupid fuckin' call, to me, so." She mimed shuffling them around with her fingers. "You get to work with Jonn and my girl Asya. That work for you? You guys get along well enough to be murder buddies?" Jonn nodded immediately. Mink: at 8:53 PM "Fine." He could kill a few more people if he had to. That was easy. He made himself loosen his grip on Jonn and on his staff, forcing himself to appear more relaxed though his thoughts still skittered around his father and who had told. The suggestion made his brow furrow in question. "Yes." He could work with Jonn, and maybe Asya, but Finch was an uncertain factor. "And him?" He gestured vaguely to the caster. Izzy: at 9:01 PM Another vague flick of her fingers. "He's useful for different things. You focus on the killing, he'll tell you who to kill. Not that he's your boss," she added, a little sharply. "I'm your fucking boss. But I can't be everywhere at once, no matter what you hear." She relaxed again, grinning. "So he'll pass along the messages." She picked at the food on her plate, holding a chicken thigh up to her dragon. It snapped the morsel out of her hand, cracking the bone and gulping it down. "You got a place to live in Skyport, Gwydion?" she asked casually. "There's guild housing, if you need it."(edited) Mink: at 9:06 PM Finch would be the messenger? It seemed...off, but he couldn't argue. Not now and not for awhile. This was shaky, new ground he was on and he had already come dangerously close to the edge. "No, I don't have a place." He could potentially go back to Azriel's, but he hadn't spoken with any of them in awhile and now he had more things to be careful of. He smiled at Wyn. "I can take you up on that offer." Izzy: at 9:12 PM "Someone else can show you." She nodded to Jonn and Finch. "Roof over your head, clean beds, warm meals, all that -- I hear. Anyway." She shoved herself up and clicked her tongue. "Good to have you onboard. I'll see about getting that wand shipped out soon as you earn it. And we'll be in touch." Wyn turned to leave, slipping through an alcove and disappearing before Gwydion could respond. Jonn finally pried his hand off Gwydion's, flexing his fingers, watching the spot where Wyn had gone intently. On his other side, Finch watched him just as intently, arms still crossed. Mink: at 9:22 PM Gwydion watched Wyn go, twisting his staff in a lazy-looking movement. He took a moment to steady himself as Jonn let go of his hand. He tapped his leg where their hands had been resting, jaw tensing at the sting in his fingers and along his skin. It was good to feel and it kept his thoughts from wandering. "I suppose I should gather my things." He stood up, the chair scrapping backwards. He smoothed out his robes, glancing to Jonn and Finch. Finch was staring at Jonn, who was staring after Wyn. Something was up, but it was too damn late to think about it. "Either one of you care to join me?" Izzy: at 9:37 PM Jonn tore his eyes off the last place he'd seen Wyn, looking up at Gwydion sharply for a moment, then relaxing. "I have to stay in Skyport. Finch could go," he started, and turned partially to look at him as he stood to join Gwydion -- immediately registering Finch's glare and looking back. "He, uh, won't, though." Then he brightened. "Oh, you could just stay with us." "No," Finch snapped. "He needs a place." "Guild housing," Finch said. "You used to live there." "Yeah, that's how I know it fuckin' sucks," he wheedled. "We have one bed and one couch," Finch explained, counting on his fingers condescendingly and pushing himself up, letting the chair make a racket against the floor as he did. "It's a big bed." "No." "Then he can sleep on the couch! You make it sound like it's fuckin' occupied already." Finch raised a finger and took a breath, then dropped it and turned to walk away swiftly. The entire argument went by very fast. Jonn made a face at his back and looked back to Gwydion with an apologetic expression. he grabbed Gwydion's hand again, without squeezing it to death this time. "I'll keep working on him. He didn't like me living with him at first, either," he said. "I'd go back to the castle with you, but I'm already on real thin fuckin' ice."(edited) Mink: at 10:01 PM Gwydion could only watch the argument with mild amusement. It was a nice gesture on Jonn's part, but he doubted that Finch would ever relent; the man didn't trust him. "Thank you, but I doubt he'll trust me enough for that." He smiled as he squeezed Jonn's hand lightly. He had looked down when it was taken again, enjoying the warmth and surprised by that enjoyment. Maybe he needed a good night's sleep; that night's events had left him rattled. "I really should head off." He stroked a thumb across the back of Jonn's hand before he let go. "I'll see you later, little dove." Hopefully when he was more himself and not this tense, caged creature with far too much to think about. Izzy: at 10:59 PM Jonn considered how much trouble he'd get in if he just fucking went back to the castle anyway. He wanted to. And Asya wouldn't snitch on him, but even if Wyn found out, what else would she do to him -- he was already fucking grounded -- She'd lock him up in the back room. That was what she'd do. So he didn't push his luck. He wrapped his arms around himself after Gwydion let go, and nodded. "'Kay. Shallah'll get you home." He glanced around and spotted her by the circle at the other end of the hall, as the rest of the thieves slipped away into the shadows. Finch was waiting for him near the door, looking tense. All fucking testy, but still wouldn't head home without him. Jonn stood briefly on his toes and pulled Gwydion down by his collar to kiss him. Nicely, this time, without biting him. Soft. The way Flynn had liked. He wanted to say miss you already, sweetheart and grin but -- he didn't have it in him. He was kind of fucking concerned about what he'd gotten Gwydion into, actually. So he pulled away without saying anything else, instead, and went to meet Finch. END Title: Pearl Wand. Summary: Morgan Wyn calls Gwydion in in the middle of the night, and offers him a resurrection wand if he'll work for her. All he has to do is kill a few people. He agrees. Category:Text Roleplay